San Antonio daily light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1886-1907, 1887-10-11
CHAPTER Will
OUT OF THE GOLDEN MIST,

| go on before ever he came. We will forget
that he ever came. You will forget that YOU
are young lady"
Alasl not only was the old time gone, but
nothing like it could ever come again. Will
had torn up the old time and thrown it away.
1t was dead. But the memory was left
One could sit and think till day after day
that summer Of 1903 unroled itself again, and
l could remember every word he said, even
the hghtest, with every gesture and every
| look.
The people at Lyme welcomed us all with
a cordially which meant not only gratitude
for the past. but hope for the future Since
that dreadful day of rebuke when Joshuas
delivery OF goods was discovered to be so
much sea water and nothing else, the tow
had been without brandy. Campion's fine
Jamaica rum, well enough in Its way, was a
poor substitute for the right good Nantes
which Dan had provided. A taste had been
developed which was doomed to disappoint-
ment, for no one succeeded Dan. man
cannot suddenly become a smuggler. Re
lations have to be established Oh the opposite
shore, IA connection to be formed at home; it
is business which is the growth of years.
Now Dan represented the third, and his sons
the fourth generation, Of a long career in
the trade, during which the whole business
| for this part of the coast had dropped into
the hands of CULVER & Company, Snug
glers to the nobility, gentry and clergy
of Lyme Regis and the surrounding
country. Imagine, therefore, what a blow
| it was to the district when the fatal ar
rest happened, followed by the dreadful dis
| sovery OF the sea water. So that, when we
came home again, there were visits paid to us
/ only Of at,,lat pt,r,
coincidence for poor Jephthah, but also of
hope and temptation Mr.. Mallock, j. p,
walked all the way from Lyme on purpose to
see his old friend again, and to hint that the
naked condition OF his cellar, as regarded
French brandy, was deplorable. The Rev.
Benjamin Burden, who, long before the end
of Dams two years captivity, had got through
his four kegs, came 10 say that he was re-
| duced to cider, and that of the thinnest. Dan
received these visitors with great politeness,
| but held out no hopes that the old trade would
| be revived. First, he said, the Dancing
Polly was gone; he should never again find
| boat he could trust SO well; then his nephew,
Joshua Mech, was gone, pressed while
busy with the kegs though how
them kegs turned out to be sea
water he couldn't say; and Jephthah
was gone; and he was getting old, and a sec
ond conviction meant a capital sentence.
Then his money in John Huntspills hands
was bringing him q little income by itself,
and he had given his promise not to smuggle
| any more. / think the old man had learned
to look on smuggling, compared with the
| great game of war, as small thing
| 1t was strange to come back to this queer
| atmosphere, i'll which crime appeared no sin
| and law breaking was encouraged by the ad-
] minisLratUrs of the law. The strangeness
| passed off after awhile. and then the two
| years Of life in the stately house of the old
| city square appeared, in its turn, dreamy and
unreal.
We came back to the old place, and began
in broken winged way to resume the old
ways. Then, naturally, began to make the
house and the housekeeping more in accord
ance with my recently acquired ideas. Dan
acquiesced, wondering; Job tried to adapt
himself TO my ways with the good will which
always distinguished him, but with less sue
| cess He betOok himself to work on the farm,
and i'll assuming the smock frock i,nmedi-
| atey changed, just as he used to do, the roll
| of tine sailor for the SLOUGH of the laborer.
John Huntspill wrote to me from time to
time. Madam made no sign of relenting.
| She never asked for news of me; she had
withdrawn her confidence from him; she
never spoke to any one about her son; she
sat silent all the day long, pale and stern Her
heart was full of bitterness
When Dan began to talk about Joshua, and
to regret the misfortunes which befell him,
| | considered that it would be well to conceal
my share i'll them, and the fact Of his treach-
cry. When he came home again-should he
ever come home-it would be time to con-
slider what steps should be taken For the
| present it seemed better to leave the old man
| in the belief that Joshua'S troubles were I'M
| deserved. Indeed, it would have been diff
cult to persuade him that his own nephew
could be guilty of so foul and dastardly a
crime. For my own part, l hoped that he
would never come home again. "A life for a
life" l said bitterly. "As he destroyed my
Wills life, so let his be taken away"
1t was in the dark days of December that
we came back to Rousdon. The wintry
weather suited the misery OF my mind. Yet
after time the old charm of the sea fell upon
me and soothed me. Dan painted and calked
the little boat. put out to sea in her again
during the soft, smooth mornings common in
winter on the south coast, when the sun floats
bathed i'll soft yellow mist, itself disk of
molten gold; when, if you see boat, her
hhoSOS anu nun dIS-hIdppeu ROUND Win q
| yellow haze, like those of float in a dream.
Sometimes Dan came with me, and we sailed
or rowed, silent, thinking OF the days that
could come no more.
There was no one like him. said Dan,
one day when we had been sitting quiet in
the boat for an hour and more. There
never was no one like him, and never will be.
Joshua had his good points For a rough
night at sea and ready hand, joshua never
had his equal But Joshua was grumpy. He
took after his father in such respects. Now
Mr.. Campion, he was always laughing,
always talking always ready to do a hands
turn for everybody. Nobody like him. And
| to think Of
"Dont, DAM don'tI" murmured with the
tears coming into my eyes.
We had a dreary Christmas that winter,
though after service in the poor old barn,
which had gone nearly roofiess since Dan
went away, the Rev. Mr. Burden came to
take his dinner with us. A turkey from tn Q
farm yard furnished the meal, and after
ward Dan, with a guilty look, produced a
bottle of rum. Mr.. Burden shook his head
sadly, but spent the rest of the day over the
drink in company with Dan, and departed in
the evening with legs which showed ten
dency to tie themselves into knots.
Then the days began to grow longer, and
the spring flowers appeared ON the Undercliff,
till all the ground was covered with the pale
| primrose. 1t must have been about this time
that everything began to look as If it belonged
to dream. lam not sure when that strange
teellnS began; L knew, however, that Dan
used to follow me about, and was loath to let
npf Of